NUZ: Recallers Pull Out the Stops; Voting Rights Threat on Hold

Nuz

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October 1, 2019

NUZ: Recallers Pull Out the Stops; Voting Rights Threat on Hold

What do kids’ soccer games, a bougie Westside winery and a Whole Foods parking lot have in common? They’re all contested ground in Santa Cruz’s increasingly vitriolic foray into recalling city councilmembers over a rabid aversion to homelessness.

With three weeks to go until an Oct. 22 deadline to submit several thousand petition signatures and kick off a recall election for Councilmembers Drew Glover and Chris Krohn, Santa Cruz United has ramped up both old-school door knocking and more unconventional outreach.

A Facebook offer for on-demand petition delivery by an “amazing surfer dude” named Jason, for instance, went over well with ladies quick to slide into the comments under a headshot of what appears to be an animate Ken Doll. More controversial for the recallers: setting up a table to stump for the cause at a kids’ soccer game.

“I’ll take my kids to a protest I believe in any day, but I’m not gonna take my kids’ whole team,” one parent tells Nuz. Of mixing youth sports and divisive local politics, they add, “I personally feel like those things should be separate.”

Peter Cook, a realtor and Santa Cruz United campaigner who ran the table at the Harvey West soccer fields last month, says “maybe three parents” objected to the sideline signature drive. It’s only unethical, he says, “if me being concerned about the well-being and safety of my kids is unethical,” since he opposes encampments that could impact the safety of his three young children.

More broadly, the campaign has revolved around using ever-harder-to-ignore encampments as a dog whistle to scare up support for the recall. One recent online post suggested that Glover is “OK with Main Beach becoming Ross Camp 2.0.”

Elsewhere in petty politics, a left-wing writer named Autumn Sun set off a social media frenzy by posting dozens of TMZ-style photos of polo-clad attendees (Is that you, Jason?) at a September Santa Cruz United event at Stockwell Cellars. The event at the winery, which also hosted an anti-rent control campaign party last fall, was advertised with an incentive: “10 signatures and we’ll buy you a glass of wine!” Though the photos appeared to be taken from a public area, they incited allegations of “stalking” and measured exchanges, like “Karin, calm your tits.”

Day to day, Santa Cruz United volunteers like Carol Polhamus also say the campaign has gotten uglier. The retired high school teacher, who joined the recall effort after organizing against RV parking that “trashed” the Westside, has been called “lots of expletives about being racist, facist,” she says.

“Truthfully that kind of stuff motivates me,” Polhamus adds. “It speaks to the level of dysfunction that’s in the atmosphere now.”

VOTING BLOCKS

On Monday, Sept. 30, the city of Santa Cruz had a deadline to respond to a legal complaint under the California Voting Rights Act. The notice of violation argued that local Latino voters hadn’t gotten proper representation on their City Council. It called on Santa Cruz to implement district elections, but the city hasn’t formally responded.

A lawsuit is not imminent, though, according to California Voting Rights Project President Lanny Ebenstein, who’s been involved in numerous complaints, including this one in Santa Cruz. He says his group won’t proceed with a lawsuit while the recall effort is underway. Out of dozens of California cities hit with this type of voting rights complaint over district elections, none have won in court. The vast majority haven’t bothered trying—opting instead to settle and pay a hefty fine to the firm that sent the complaint. Also, Ebenstein says, even if a city were to prevail in a suit, state law prevents it from recouping legal fees from the plaintiffs.

Sounds like a pretty sweet gig for the prosecuting team! No wonder so many cities are getting sued.

Todd Glass Headlines Santa Cruz Comedy Fest

Jacob Pierce

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October 1, 2019

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Todd Glass Headlines Santa Cruz Comedy Fest

Comedian Todd Glass has this way of keeping audiences smiling and feeling good, even in the moments when they’re not laughing uncontrollably.

I’ve sometimes wondered how Glass, who comes to the Santa Cruz Comedy Festival this weekend, pulls this off, despite working in a field where artists are constantly poking and prodding, always pushing the envelope—especially since playing things safe often comes off as uninteresting. Glass has some thoughts on this. He tells me that he puts a lot of thought into how he treats those at the other end of his punchlines, as well as who he’s picking on.

“Make fun of what people do, not who they are,” he says. “If someone decides to chew their gum like a cow, OK, that’s not how they were born.”

“I’m not talking about clean comedy. Fuck clean comedy,” Glass adds. “Comedy can be no curse words and be egregious.”

The comics who Glass most admires share this outlook. They don’t throw barbs at overweight people or make fun of someone’s sexuality, for example, he says.

The idea of ticking off audience members doesn’t worry Glass much, however. He figures that that someone at a show is bound to find a couple of jokes offensive, although he won’t target just anyone. “Offend the right people,” he says.

The standard that Glass uses to figure out what material works—and what doesn’t—is to think about what types of jokes will age well, compared to the ones that might make him cringe if he were to watch the footage years later. For instance, if someone pulled up footage today of a stand-up routine from the 1990s and the comic was making crass gay marriage jokes, many viewers would find that difficult to take in. But if they were to see someone taking on anti-gay marriage activists head on, “that’ll weather better,” he explains.

“You’re allowed to verbally punch anybody on the planet,” Glass says. “I want to pick the people that need it.”

The sixth-annual, laugh-filled festival runs from Friday, Oct. 4 through Sunday, Oct. 6. It swings into full gear Saturday night at 8pm. That’s when comics, including headliners like Glass, will start pinballing across shows at various bars and impromptu comedy venues, most of them free. All 15 headliners will perform the “All-Star Show” at DNA’s Comedy Lab. At 10pm, Glass will perform his own late-night show at the Lab.

Audiences may know Glass—who hosts a podcast called the Todd Glass Show and has a new Netflix special out—from his time on seasons two and three on NBC’s Last Comic Standing. They may also know him from what’s probably my all-time favorite clip of a comic shutting down a heckler.

In 2008, Glass was performing at a club in Davis, where a woman in the room had been hassling comics and staffers all night. Before going onstage, Glass leaned forward to her, put a finger to his lips, and offered a quick “Shh” with a polite shrug to let her know it wasn’t a huge deal, he says. She responded by flipping him off.

Standing at the back of the room, Glass realized that the woman likely thought he was a waiter, which frustrated him. He felt her response likely said something about her attitude toward those in the service industry more broadly. Once Glass got onstage, he told the brief story—none of which the woman denied. He continued calling her out, even while she proceeded to climb onto the stage herself. “And don’t ever treat a waitress or a waiter or anybody in the service industry like that again!” he exclaimed, as security escorted her out.

In letting anger get the best of him, Glass did use a word that he now regrets to describe the woman, who he did not know. And he’s considered taking down the popular video because of a sexist undertone in many of its comments.

Other than that, he feels good about the onstage moment.

“I was angry about her disrespecting comedy, so go off on that,” Glass says. “Be as volatile as you want, but volatile to what she did that bothered you. That night, I remembered to do that, and I did not feel guilty putting my head in my pillow at night or driving home.”

The Santa Cruz Comedy Festival runs from Friday, Oct. 4-Sunday, Oct. 6. Venues include DNA’s Comedy Lab, the Poet and the Patriot, the Food Lounge, Tabby Cat Café, Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, Rosie McCann’s, 99 Bottles, Callahan’s, and Abbott Square. Shows range from free to $25 ($30 at the door). For more information, visit standupsantacruz.com.

Time of Reconciliation—I and Thou: Risa’s Stars Oct. 2-8

Risa D’Angeles

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October 1, 2019

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Time of Reconciliation—I and Thou: Risa’s Stars Oct. 2-8

The 12 zodiac signs have a deep inner order characterized by inter-relationships, color, Rays, sounds, and rhythms.

The sun crossing the equator at the spring and autumn equinoxes creates a division of the unity of the circle into two halves, which marks the beginning of the signs Aries and Libra. Thus, two poles are born, with Aries as the upper and Libra as the lower pole. Aries symbolizes the emergence of the first impulse of life, Libra represents the full blossoming of life in the world. During Libra, the beauty of nature is transparent and radiant, like the golden sun on a brilliant autumn day. The splendors of modern civilization, big cities, industries, and the finest luxuries of life are expressed through Libra. Food and drink, luxury, fine things, jewels, style, and fashion are also all Libra signatures.

In Eastern wisdom, Aries is noon and Libra is midnight. Libra is the material pole of life, where the outer side predominates and spirit becomes condensed. Humanity’s inner and outer-life separate and become estranged. We sometimes feel lost.

Libra has compassion for us, though. Libra seeks to bring equilibrium to our lives, a state of balanced tension. “The path of tension is the path of striving, the path of life.” (Brotherhood #44, Agni Yoga). Libra (Ray 3) offers the Light of Intelligent Wisdom to our lives. Libra tells us, “Begin each day with intentions for Goodwill. Goodwill creates equilibrium.” Goodwill creates Right Human Relations creates the peace and harmony humanity seeks. Libra is a pendulum moving side to side. Libra’s “pulsation” creates a restlessness in us, a search for our “other” half (I and Thou). Libra is the sign of reconciliation–the balance between the principles of male/female within ourselves.

ARIES: A potent time is upon all of us these days. Strong desires and powerful emotions can act like ocean swells, almost overcoming our ability to think. They give Aries, however, the courage to go where others won’t or can’t. I think you are hiding one of your precious gifts. Tend to relationships, love and care of another. Something’s regenerating. Hopefully your relationships. Don’t be ruthless, and don’t seek to conquer. Work with.

TAURUS: You think about daily interactions and relationships within the context of industriousness, usefulness. You encourage others in order to involve them in working with you. Careful with your energy each day. You can overwork, become exhausted. You could create a separation through anger, reaction and harsh communication. It is good to listen, to hear deeply, to compromise, negotiate and to ask forgiveness.

GEMINI: You are hard at work thinking about how to be more creative. For a while now, strong emotions are pushing you. It’s important to practice extreme care and safety, especially while doing any physical labor, lest accidents, burns, rashes, things red and scratchy occur at home. Be kind to those around you. A lot of fire things—ideas, anger maybe—may come your way. Things hot and dangerous. A bit like you’ve become. Interesting. Just listen.

CANCER: You need some pleasure to pursue, some love, romance, sports, both competitive and disciplined. However, most likely you focus on nurturing others, showering them with gifts. In turn, they may not act as you would expect. People’s energies are high, sometimes emotional and uncontrollable. Watch over yourself carefully. Allow yourself to be foolhardy at times. And stroll through an art and sculpture garden.

LEO: The themes seem to be communicating with family, parents, home, property, friends, and people in the neighborhood. There’s a balancing needed, concerning your perception of the past, and of family and/or parents. With your deep ability to love from the heart, make peace with mother and the women in your life. Old anger doesn’t hold anything anymore. It actually weakens you. The cosmic energies can be used to beautify, repair and organize. Everything around you seeks this.

VIRGO: You’re thinking and talking a lot. Perhaps concerning assets and values. Thinking about how you are a resource for others? Try not to be argumentative. Allow a natural rhythm to occur with work, decisions, making arrangements and plans. Write letters by hand on real paper; use pen, ink, envelopes, stamps, and a secret seal. Have you begun to learn calligraphy yet? It is to be your own meditation.

LIBRA: You enjoy making, having and using money. It is a great gift for you. Allowing you to be creative, to travel, to share with others. Money is a resource, a way to help others. It provides freedom and choice. It can be used to create more wealth. We are given the gift of money and resources so we can help rebuild the lives of humanity in need. Are you tithing 10% of your income to those in need? Tithing insures a constant flow. You’re also allowed to be frivolous sometimes.

SCORPIO: Stamina and endurance seem to grow stronger each day. You find more challenges along your path, and you always you have the strength to rise up to meet them. Your self-identity expands as you pursue a deeply spiritual life. Be more cooperative in groups, offering yourself in service. Complete all projects. Plan your next ones. Your intuition rises, reaches out to others, touches them. Contact is made. It releases love.

SAGITTARIUS: Your brilliance and creativity may feel hidden for a month. You may be very aware of this. They are regenerating, expanding. Desires may become secret, too. Sometimes you don’t know your motivation or reason for choosing something. Sometimes you feel life’s a series of intrigues. Your past comes to forth, and you wonder who your adversaries and allies are. Have you studied the word “karma?” Spiritually, we return with our same groups to help each other. Everyone around is your spiritual group.

CAPRICORN: You have hopes, wishes and dreams. You want to express yourself socially with friends (more than one) and associates. You want to be with people who recognize and applaud your gifts. You want to be with people who don’t think you’re scandalous or selfish when you make some artistic choice or move. You’re strong, most times revolutionary. Don’t change. Review goals, hopes, wishes, dreams. Do you need a new journal?

AQUARIUS: You are the finder, the artist, the adventurer, traveler, and philosopher. Justice is a focus. You see where humanity is caught in the thralldom of wrong thinking. Aquarius is the sign of humanity. You are sensitive to humanity’s needs. Everyone is your friend. You benefit by moving about here and there, undergoing change, learning about humanitarian causes. You are a world server. Travelling to the future and back.

PISCES: Pisces has a sense of divine discontent, seeking new ways of being, new endeavors, a new sense of self-confidence to move forward. It’s important to follow your own intuitions, needs, hopes, wishes, desires and dreams. Pisces often serves others before serving themselves. You must now turn your energies inward, seek your own counsel, reliability, safety, and trust. Entrusting yourself to yourself. You are your own resource. Know that the past will make a visit.

Rob Brezsny’s Astrology Oct. 2-8

Rob Brezsny

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October 1, 2019

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Free will astrology for the week of Oct. 2, 2019

ARIES (March 21-April 19): In 1956, the U.S. federal government launched a program to build 40,000 miles of high-speed roads to connect all major American cities. It was completed 36 years later at a cost of $521 billion. In the coming months, I’d love to see you draw inspiration from that visionary scheme. According to my analysis, you will generate good fortune for yourself as you initiate a long-term plan to expand your world, create a more robust network, and enhance your ability to fulfill your life’s big goals.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus-born Youtube blogger Hey Fran Hey has some good advice for her fellow Bulls, and I think it’ll be especially fresh and potent in the coming weeks. She says, “Replacing ‘Why is this happening to me?’ with ‘What is this trying to tell me?’ has been a game-changer for me. The former creates a hamster wheel, where you’ll replay the story over and over again. Victimized. Stuck. The latter holds space for a resolution to appear.”

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “The soul has illusions as the bird has wings: it is supported by them.” So declared French author Victor Hugo. I don’t share his view. In fact, I regard it as an insulting misapprehension. The truth is that the soul achieves flight through vivid fantasies and effervescent intuitions and uninhibited longings and non-rational hypotheses and wild hopes—and maybe also by a few illusions. I bring this to your attention because now is an excellent time to nurture your soul with vivid fantasies and effervescent intuitions and uninhibited longings and non-rational hypotheses and wild hopes.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I know people of all genders who periodically unleash macho brags about how little sleep they need. If you’re normally like that, I urge you to rebel. The dilemmas and riddles you face right now are very solvable if and only if you get sufficient amounts of sleep and dreams. Do you need some nudges to do right by yourself? Neuroscientist Matthew Walker says that some of the greatest athletes understand that “sleep is the greatest legal enhancing performance drug.” Top tennis player Roger Federer sleeps 12 hours a day. During his heyday, world-class sprinter Usain Bolt slept 10 hours a night and napped during the day. Champion basketball player LeBron James devotes 12 hours a day to the rejuvenating sanctuary of sleep.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Actor and dancer Fred Astaire was a pioneer in bringing dance into films as a serious art form. He made 31 musical films during the 76 years he worked and was celebrated for his charisma, impeccable technique and innovative moves. At the height of his career, from 1933 to 1949, he teamed up with dancer Ginger Rogers in the creation of 10 popular movies. In those old-fashioned days, virtually all partner dancing featured a male doing the lead part as the female followed. One witty critic noted that although Astaire was a bigger star than Rogers, she “did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and while wearing high heels.” According to my reading of the astrological omens, you may soon be called on to carry out tasks that are metaphorically comparable to those performed by Rogers.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Your No. 1 therapy in the coming weeks? Watching animals. It would be the healthiest thing you could undertake: relax into a generously receptive mode as you simply observe creatures doing what they do. The best option would be to surrender to the pleasures of communing with both domesticated and wild critters. If you need a logical reason to engage in this curative and rejuvenating activity, I’ll give you one: It will soothe and strengthen your own animal intelligence, which would be a tonic gift for you to give yourself.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Every time my birthday season comes around, I set aside an entire day to engage in a life review. It lasts for many hours. I begin by visualizing the recent events I’ve experienced, then luxuriously scroll in reverse through my entire past, as if watching a movie starring me. It’s not possible to remember every single scene and feeling, of course, so I allow my deep self to highlight the moments it regards as significant. Here’s another fun aspect of this ritual: I bestow a blessing on every memory that comes up, honoring it for what it taught me and how it helped me to become the person I am today. Dear Libra, now is an excellent time for you to experiment with a similar celebration.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Depression is when you think there’s nothing to be done,” writes author Siri Hustvedt. “Fortunately I always think there’s something to be done.” I offer this hopeful attitude to you, Scorpio, trusting that it will cheer you up. I suspect that the riddles and mysteries you’re embedded in right now are so puzzling and complicated that you’re tempted to think that there’s nothing you can do to solve them or escape them. But I’m here to inform you that if that’s how you feel, it’s only temporary. Even more importantly, I’m here to inform you that there is indeed something you can do, and you are going to find out what that is sooner rather than later.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “How inconvenient to be made of desire,” writes Sagittarian author Larissa Pham. “Even now, want rises up in me like a hot oil. I want so much that it scares me.” I understand what she means, and I’m sure you do, too. There are indeed times when the inner fire that fuels you feels excessive and unwieldy and inopportune. But I’m happy to report that your mood in the coming weeks is unlikely to fit that description. I’m guessing that the radiant pulse of your yearning will excite you and empower you. It’ll be brilliant and warm, not seething and distracting.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I envision the next 12 months as a time when you could initiate fundamental improvements in the way you live. Your daily rhythm 12 months from now could be as much as 20% more gratifying and meaningful. It’s conceivable you will discover or generate innovations that permanently raise your long-term goals to a higher octave. At the risk of sounding grandiose, I predict you’ll welcome a certain novelty that resembles the invention of the wheel or the compass or the calendar.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Modern literary critic William Boyd declared that Aquarian author Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) was “the best short-story writer ever,” and “the first truly modern writer of fiction: secular, refusing to pass judgment, cognizant of the absurdities of our muddled, bizarre lives and the complex tragi-comedy that is the human condition.” Another contemporary critic, Harold Bloom, praised Chekhov’s plays, saying that he was “one of the three seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in the theatre.” We might imagine, then, that in the course of his career, Chekhov was showered with accolades. We’d be wrong about that, though. “If I had listened to the critics,” he testified, “I’d have died drunk in the gutter.” I hope that what I just said will serve as a pep talk for you as you explore and develop your own original notions in the coming weeks.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Pisces-born Dorothy Steel didn’t begin her career as a film actress until she was 91 years old. She had appeared in a couple of TV shows when she was 89, then got a small role in an obscure movie. At age 92, she became a celebrity when she played the role of a tribal elder in Black Panther, one of the highest-grossing films of all time. I propose that we make her one of your inspirational role models for both the coming weeks and the next 12 months. Why? Because I suspect you will be ripening fully into a role and a mission you were born to embody and express.

Homework: “Privilege is when you think something is not a problem because it’s not a problem for you.” Comment. freewillastrology.com.

Music Picks: October 2-8

Aaron Carnes

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October 1, 2019

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Santa Cruz County live entertainment picks for the week of October 2

THURSDAY 10/3

CABARET

MARCHFOURTH

Have you ever watched a band and wondered to yourself: Do they really need three guitarists? Isn’t two horns enough? Wait till you check out 20-piece group Marchfourth. The band has every instrument imaginable on stage, along with jugglers, stilt-dancers and acrobats, because why not. The group is somewhere between an avante-garde marching band and a performance art dance party. Oh, and the music is funky, jazzy, rocking, and takes elements of anything that will get you on your feet. Expect a lot of wild instrumentals and funked-up covers of popular songs. But that doesn’t matter; you’ll be staring at the jugglers the whole time. AC

8pm. Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $15 adv/$19 door. 704-7113.

FUNK

MIDTOWN SOCIAL

There you are, at the bar, drink in hand. Suddenly, the drummer kicks out a heavy beat, quickly followed by mud-thumping bass licks. As your head bounces to the groove, a light guitar riff mosquitos its way on top. The singers drip their vocals into the track; the dance floor has a mind of its own. Bodies are sweating as much as that drink. You don’t have to step into a ’70s film to get this funky time. Buy a ticket to Midtown Social, the septet funk and soul act that keeps the music clean and the people nasty. MAT WEIR

9pm. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $10 adv/$15 door. 479-1854.

FRIDAY, OCT 4

INDIE ROCK

FRUIT BATS

Fruit Bats describes its vibe as “existential make-out music,” and surprisingly, that’s not a bad description. There is plenty of dread in the sultry falsettos; plenty of being-there in the intimate acoustics. And while the group has stuck closely to the folk-rock playbook in the past, on this year’s Gold Past Life, many songs have the gilded glow of classic AM pop. With its strutting sass and bouncy keys, there’s an almost-Bee-Gees quality to the title track, as frontman Eric D. Johnson sings: “You know you’re never gonna feel as right as in your gold past life.” MIKE HUGUENOR

8pm. Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $17 adv/$19 door. 704-7113.

COMEDY

IRENE TU

Before you ask, no, Irene Tu is not a vegan—but she does get that question a lot. “I don’t know if that’s because I’m gay, or because I look frail,” Tu says. Born in the suburbs of Chicago, the comedienne is now based in SF, where she’s been recognized as one of 20 “women to watch,” and as one of the area’s best stand-up comedians. Her set at DNA’s Lab opens the Santa Cruz Comedy Festival, and is followed by a queer disco—both of which are vegan-friendly. MH

7 & 9:30pm. DNA’s Comedy Lab, 155 S River St., Santa Cruz. $20 adv/$25 door. 900-5123.

SATURDAY 10/5

BLUEGRASS

BREWGRASS FESTIVAL

Quick! Tell me two things Santa Cruz loves more than UCSC Banana Slug cameos in Pulp Fiction. If you said “bluegrass and craft beer,” have I got a show for you. Felton’s Roaring Camp is bringing back its Brewgrass Festival with 10 live acts from the bluegrass and Americana scene, beer from a dozen local breweries and food trucks galore. The live acts include a performance by Tim Bluhm with the Coffis Brothers, Hackensaw Boys, Willy Tea, and a very special performance of the Moshe V Band, featuring his five-piece band. Word is, he’s turning 40 a few days prior, and he wants you to come party with him. AC

11:30am. Roaring Camp Railroads, 5401 Graham Hill Rd., Felton. $35 adv/$40 door. 335-4484.

EXPERIMENTAL

TOO MANY ZOOZ

Named (presumably) after the unfilmed sequel to the 2011 family dramedy We Bought a Zoo, NY’s Too Many Zooz play a style of music it calls “Brass House.” Consisting of drums, trumpet and bari sax, the Zooz might also be called “acoustic dance music”—get-down music for jazz heads, weirdos and sub-city flaneurs. After going bona fide viral on YouTube (“Too Many Zooz best performance good audio” now has 7 million views), they’ve brought the rhythm up from out of the subway and right out onto the dancefloor. Get ready to get all the way down. MH

9pm. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $18. 423-1338.

SUNDAY 10/6

AMERICANA

JIMBO MATHUS

Jimbo Mathus knows what it’s like to be a one-hit wonder. His band Squirrel Nut Zippers hit it big in 1996 with the kitschy Dixieland jukebox number “Hell.” It all happened in the midst of a “swing revival,” which meant that it also died really fast. But a closer look showed the group took influence from a broad range of styles, including blues, jazz and klezmer. Several years and hardships later, Mathus has carved out a successful career keeping his focus on American roots music, particularly blues and country. His latest album Incinerator is one of the strongest things he’s released, ever. Now he understands what it’s like to build a fanbase organically while toiling for years off everyone’s radar. AC

8pm. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $15 adv/$20 door. 479-1854.

INDIE

YOUNG CREATURES

Young Creatures is part shoegaze, part bubblegum pop, part searching-your-inner-soul indie rock, and 100% catchy. After starting up in 2012, this quartet solidified its current lineupand hasn’t looked back. In 2017, the group released its second album, The Future is Finally Now, a mellow trip that dives into the band’s sound, taking unexpected turns into dark corners while maintaining a light, ethereal sound. MW

8pm. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $5. 429-6994.

MONDAY 10/7

JAZZ

JULIAN LAGE TRIO

Child prodigies haven’t always fared well in jazz, often burning out or failing to live up to their early promise. Julian Lage is one of the great exceptions. The Santa Rosa-raised guitarist was already a formidable musician before the age of 10, playing with remarkable poise and maturity. At every turn in his career he’s made choices that served his development as an artist rather than a music industry product. Performing with his latest trio, the 31-year-old guitarist is joined by Peruvian-born bassist Jorge Roeder and Bad Plus drummer Dave King. ANDREW GILBERT

7 and 9pm. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $36.25 adv/$42 door. 427-2227.

Love Your Local Band: Enemy Of My Enemy

Aaron Carnes

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October 1, 2019

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When vocalist Christa Bortolin first met up with Brian Ziel and Jason Graham to play music, she was under the impression that it would be old-school skate-punk. For one thing, the group’s resumé included several punk bands, like Fury 66. But at that first practice, she was surprised by all the slow, sludgy sections between the punk rock.

“It wasn’t skate-punk, but it was definitely something I could get down with,” Bortolin says.

As a trio, Enemy of My Enemy developed a lot of new songs that actually resembled skate-punk—at least the energy and passion. The songs retained the intricate dynamics and subtly complex changes of those early jams, while becoming more aggressive and hooky. After adding bassist Nate Kotila, the band is now a four-piece.

“Once we all clicked musically, that’s where our songs really started to write themselves,” says Graham. “We started writing catchy songs that we could actually have more fun playing.”

The group released its debut EP Igniter in 2017. The record demonstrates an almost-relentless punk-rock energy, but manages to still leave space to breathe. The group is preparing to release a debut full-length, which was produced by Olav Tabatabai from Noise Eater Recordings, who also plays second guitar at shows. Aiming for a release in November, the songs have evolved, searching for creative ways to play straight-forward punk.

“We’re not about playing hyperspeed, but we’re about playing with power and having a good time,” says Ziel.

8:30pm. Friday, Oct. 4, Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $20. 423-1338.

Fall Farmers Market Picks

Christina Waters

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October 1, 2019

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October brings bountiful harvests to our slice of the West Coast. The warm weather lingers into cool evenings, and organic growers keep bringing us rich flavors, colors and textures—from nuts and peppers to berries and squash.

Right now, our farmers markets are loaded with the best from apple and pear orchards. The variety of pome fruits has never been greater, and I scored some of the mighty Mutsu apple last Wednesday from the legendary Prevedelli Farm orchards. This apple has got to be the greatest on the planet. It has everything: density of flavor, crispness of texture, tartness of finish, but with a sweet complexity that will stop you in your tracks. Let me get specific. The Mutsu was born in Japan in 1948 as a cross between the Golden Delicious and the Newtown Pippin. This is an apple to taste the same way you would a bottle of Le Cigare Volant—with care, focus and a spirit of inquiry. You get my drift.

But meanwhile, back at the Downtown Farmers’ Market, it was pepper central as I checked out the neon orange, red and yellow array of peppers, from cayenne to sweet Italian to arbol to jalapeño. This is their moment. Lots of pole beans, especially my favorite Romano beans from Live Earth Farm. Ditto blackberries, even strawberries, whose incredible aroma perfumed the air at last week’s very hot Wednesday market. Squashes are abundant right now, along with nuts, honey, herbs, and figs. Those incredible dry-farmed tomatoes from Molino Creek and Happy Boy are still working their intense flavor magic. Pumpkins will be coming up soon. I discovered the Inzana Ranch stand loaded with nuts and all kinds of dried fruit from this historic 19th-century property near Modesto. I took home a bag of dried peaches, which turned out to be my new favorite snack—a chewy prelude to the dried persimmons my friend Beverly will be making in a few weeks.

I never leave the market without something from Companion Bakeshop, and last week it was a little sourdough ficelle for dinner and a few GF almond/anise biscotti for dessert. Flowerwise, there are dahlias the size of Archie’s head (you know, Prince Harry’s little boy), snapdragons and gorgeous mixed bouquets. I scored an armload of coral-hued bean flowers from Dirty Girl, unusual and beautiful. There’s so much in the markets now beyond produce: tables of handmade clothing, pottery, honey, essential oils, and herbs, artisanal cheeses from Garden Variety Cheese.

Santa Cruz Downtown Farmers’ Market, Wednesdays 1-6pm through October. Winter hours 1-5pm. santacruzfarmersmarket.org.

Pumped Up

For Jack-o’-Lantern enthusiasts, there’s nothing like the Tuesday, Oct. 15, Pumpkin Decorating Bonanza up at the Felton Farmers Market. Sit down with one of those bright orange pumpkins donated by Rodoni Farms and get craftsy with paint, buttons, googly eyes—whatever strikes your fancy.

This free pumpkin decorating event is total and complete fun for kids of any age, and a playful way to welcome the long shadows and burnished light of the fall season.

Felton Farmers Market Pumpkin Bonanza, 2:30-6:30pm on Tuesday, Oct. 15. Downtown Felton, 120 Russell Ave., just off Highway 9.

Film Review: ‘Judy’

Lisa Jensen

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October 1, 2019

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Judy Garland is a showbiz legend, with a legendary hard-luck showbiz life.

Thrust into the limelight by a cold, pushy stage mother, she was fed uppers and downers as a teenage star in popular MGM movie musicals to keep to the strict production schedule, while largely forbidden to eat actual food so she wouldn’t look fat on screen. None of her five marriages worked out, and it was a constant financial struggle to provide for her three kids and keep the family together while battling addiction to pills and alcohol in her later years.

Nevertheless, she became one of the most beloved entertainers of all time. The sensation of her big, pliant voice in her breakout role in The Wizard of Oz at age 16 ensured her another two decades of movie stardom, plus an even more devoted following in concert venues worldwide.

Garland has been gone for 50 years, but despite everything she went through in her life, it seems like Hollywood is not done with her yet. The new movie Judy is both a cautionary tale about the price and pitfalls of stardom, and an attempt to celebrate Garland’s fighting spirit and magnetic hold on her audience. But while Renée Zellweger is often fascinating in the title role, the movie never soars above conventional Hollywood biopic clichés (let alone over the rainbow), with a few extra-mawkish flourishes along the way.

Directed by Rupert Goold, Judy is scripted by Tom Edge from the stage play End of the Rainbow by Peter Quilter. As that title suggests, the story follows Judy (Zellweger) in 1968, the last year of her life, eking out a living of sorts on the road with her two youngest children, Lorna (Bella Ramsey) and Joey (Lewin Lloyd), who both adore her.

But with her bills constantly in arrears, she’s convinced by her ex Sid Luft (Rufus Sewell) to accept a limited engagement at the swanky Talk Of the Town nightclub in London—even though it means leaving her kids behind for a few weeks. Plagued by nerves and her various demons, Judy is a trial to her designated Brit handlers, Rosalyn (Jessie Buckley, seen earlier this year in Wild Rose) and Burt (Royce Pierreson), her pianist. Until she gets onstage, when her professionalism and emotional vocals beguile the crowd.

Woven into this narrative are candy-colored flashbacks to the set of Oz, where looming studio boss L. B. Mayer (Richard Cordery) gives teenage Judy (Darci Shaw) a dire pep talk about stepping out of line, or her first PR date with buddy and co-star Mickey Rooney (Gus Barry). Too much time is spent in these scenes laying blame for her lifetime of addiction and insecurities, and there’s no mention at all of the intervening 30 years when she carved out her own charismatic adult persona and career.

Mickey Deans (Finn Wittrock), soon to be ex No. 5, is an L.A. party boy who briefly charms Judy with his big dreams. But when Judy spends an evening with a couple of gay admirers in London, bonding over their shared outsider status, it feels like Garland’s entire massive gay fan base has been checked off the list in this one (fictional) encounter. And buck up for the finale when Judy embarks on “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on her last night at the club, when it all becomes Just. Too. Much.

Zellweger does her own singing (a pretty nervy proposition right there), and while her game vocal impersonation doesn’t capture the expressive intensity of the real Garland, the movie depicts the twilight of Garland’s career, not her prime, so a little wobbly uncertainty in the delivery is OK. But Zellweger shines in Judy’s dramatic mannerisms, vibrant emotionalism, and sly, self-deprecating sense of humor. She deserves a movie as complicated as her performance.

JUDY

** 1/2 (out of four)

Renée Zellweger, Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock, Royce Pierreson, Michael Gambon. Written by Tom Edge. Directed by Rupert Goold.

A Roadside Attractions release. Rated PG-13. 118 minutes.

Villa dei Sogni’s Stateside Vino Rossi

Josie Cowden

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September 25, 2019

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Searching around the wine section of Deluxe Market in Aptos, I came across a Villa dei Sogni Vino Rosso. Most wines at Deluxe have helpful information for each bottle, and a tag on the Vino Rosso informed that it was produced by local couple Jack and Lori Burkett, along with Lori’s brother and sister-in-law Garth and Barbara Shirreffs.

A blend of 45% Sangiovese, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Zinfandel, their Vino Rosso 2013 ($26) is a rich mouthful of these three red varietals. Estate-grown in the vineyard of the Burkett and Shirreffs families, the wine has notes of Sangiovese’s plush cherry fruit, and distinctive black currant, tobacco, coffee, and mint notes from the Cab. “The blend is subtly different, depending on the prominent grape that is harvested each year,” Lori Burkett says. Grapes are tended to and harvested by family and friends, and fruit is turned into wine with the help of Midnight Cellars in Paso Robles.

Family members of the Burketts planted the vineyard in 2001 on a sunny patch of land near Lake Nacimiento, and their first harvest was in 2003. But soon after, Lori’s husband Jack was diagnosed with a brain tumor and lost the ability to speak or walk. “He was given one year to live, but is still going strong after 18 years,” says Lori. “He has kept a positive spirit.” Initially, Jack went from being wheelchair-bound, hardly able to move, to walking with a brace on his leg. Lori credits the Cabrillo College Adaptive PE and Stroke and Disability Center with keeping Jack healthy. The Burketts now give 10% of wine sales to Cabrillo in gratitude. Named Villa dei Sogni, which means “house of dreams” in Italian, this robust Vino Rosso 2013 pairs well with any hearty meal.

“This has been a dream come true,” says Lori. “With the grace of God, the love and support of our family, church family and friends, Jack is thriving and enjoying life. He beat the odds.”

Villa dei Sogni Vino Rosso is carried at Café Sparrow, Café Cruz and East End Gastropub.

villadeisogniwine.com.

Kindred Herbs’ Guide to Growing Medicinal Herbs

Wellness

Georgia Johnson

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September 25, 2019

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Kindred Herbs’ Guide to Growing Medicinal Herbs

In my end-of-summer attempts to enjoy the afternoons, I’m getting sunburned more than I should. I often find myself picking away at the long fingers of my aloe plant, rubbing the stringy goop on my shoulders and nose to ease any lingering sting.

Healing at the expense of plants is something humans have done for centuries. While I appreciate modern medicine, my aloe plant reminds me that healing relief for minor problems—even if fleeting—may be just a pluck away.

Cameron Salomon, grower and owner of Kindred Herbs medicinal plant nursery, began cultivating her company’s healing plants around a year ago. Since then, she’s grown more than 60 types of medicinal herbs on her little plot off Ocean Street Extension.

“I’ve been focused on herbs for the last six years, and it’s been a longtime dream of mine to open a nursery, since I was a teenager,” says Salomon, who is currently gearing up for a fall varietals sale.

She buys seeds from Oregon organic farm Strictly Medicinals, which focuses on potent plants with varied health benefits. “There is an emphasis on the medicinal contents of plants, rather than their beauty or shelf life, which is kind of what our food crops and flowers have turned into,” says Salomon, who also prioritizes ecological benefits like healthy soil. “Some of them are beautiful, but that’s not their only purpose.”

The roots of the project hew close to Saloman’s own interests. “It’s called Kindred Herbs, but it also could be, like, ‘Cameron’s favorite plants,’” she laughs. For others with an interest in gardening, from beginners to connoisseurs, here are a few plants she’d recommend:

Lemon Balm

“Lemon Balm is a digestion herb. It’s good for kids, pregnant women and the elderly. It’s a safe herb. It benefits digestion, but it’s also a very uplifting. It even has antiviral properties. It’s a powerful herb for being so safe, and is easy to grow. It’s a mint relative.

Some of the important things to think about are ‘right plant, right place.’ There are little tags on the plants to tell you where to put herbs and what they need. If they are in the right place, they will really grow themselves.”

Calendula

“Calendula is another plant that grows itself. It makes a beautiful, bright orange flower. It’s drought tolerant, which is important to our climate, and it flowers throughout the season. It has a very broad window for harvesting. You’ll plant it in one spot and see it pop up in other parts of your garden. It grows well with fruit trees, too.

It helps repair the skin and cellular tissue. It’s one of the main ingredients in all-natural salves you see. It’s pretty easy. You can make an infused oil, and it also has an edible flower that you can put in salads or on cakes. It’s a common ingredient in cold and flu tea recipes. It’s bitter, so I wouldn’t do an all-calendula tea, but a little bit can be helpful. It’s also a lymphatic herb, which is one of the cleaning systems of the body.”

Passionflower

“There is edible passion fruit, which is passiflora edulis, but this is passiflora incarnata. They are related, but this is the medicinal plant version. It’s a perennial vine. You can harvest the flowers of the leaves. It makes a purple flower that is quite stunning and looks like it’s from another planet. It’s an amazing nervine. It calms down the nervous system and helps promote relaxation. It’s a good sedative, and will help the body go to sleep, but it won’t leave you groggy the next day.”

Elderberry

“Every home should have an elderberry. It flowers in the summer and sets berries in the late summer to fall. It’s one of the top antiviral herbs. It’s one of those herbs that is like a food. You can consume it as if it was a food. It’s safe to take regularly. Depending on the amount you take—usually it’s a teaspoon for a kid or tablespoon for an adult—taking it throughout the winter is a really effective way of staving off colds and flu.

You can make a syrup out of it. You harvest the berries and boil them and add honey. It’ll last for a couple of months that way. You can also use the flowers. They can be made into a cordial. You infuse the flowers with water and add a sweetener. It will naturally ferment, there is a cordial and liqueur. It’s a fun way to enjoy medicine.”

Kindred Herbs will host its second medicinal herb sale from 10am-3pm on Oct. 12-13 at 2014 Ocean St. Extension, Santa Cruz. kindred-herbs.com.

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JUDY

Lemon Balm

Calendula

Passionflower

Elderberry